The replacement parts industry has been shown to be vulnerable to counterfeit or bogus parts introduced into the system by counterfeiters through parts brokers and distributors. Once in the system, these counterfeit parts are virtually undetectable and indistinguishable from genuine parts. Counterfeit parts have the look, feel and fit of a genuine part, but they tend to lack the qualifying specifications of the genuine part. The rigorous specifications required of parts, especially those in high technology industries such as aerospace, military, automobile, heavy equipment and electronics, tend to render genuine parts relatively expensive. Where parts are critical for the safety of people, government or industry standards are quite high and can usually only be met by the most qualified of manufacturers. To adhere to such high standards is an expensive proposition and which, therefore, results in expensive parts.
By utilizing substandard specifications in materials and manufacture, both of which result in relatively inexpensive parts, counterfeiters have much to gain in the way of profit and the temptation has made this underground industry flourish. Counterfeit parts can comprise those made from substandard materials and to substandard tolerances which are made to look and feel exactly alike their authentic counterparts. They can also consist of refurbished authentic parts which have been cleaned and polished to look like new. Many of these refurbished parts are ones which have been removed for safety purposes since they have reached their designed service life and their re-entry into service as a purportedly new part is extremely hazardous. In both instances, the counterfeit parts are passed off as genuine and/or new, typically through the use of replicated or reused printed packaging bearing the indicia of the manufacturer of the genuine parts. For counterfeiters, it is not difficult to obtain packaging, particularly corrugated cardboard boxes, of equal sizes as those in which the authentic parts are packaged. It is also not difficult with today's laser printing techniques and computer software to print, either on labelling or directly onto the package, indicia including the genuine manufacturer's logo to falsely suggest that the product contained in the package originated with that reputable manufacturer. It is also known that some counterfeiters obtain packaging which was originally genuine, but which had been discarded once opened and the part removed. Oftentimes, the replaced part is discarded in the package of the replacement part, thereby affording the counterfeiter both a refurbishable part and a package in which it can be shipped. For the end-users of these parts, it is impossible to ascertain from the part itself or from its packaging that the part is anything but authentic.
Currently available authenticating systems tend to utilize expensive, difficult to replicate, techniques to deter counterfeiting. Many such systems require the end-user to employ expensive authentication equipment for verification purposes. However, in remote locations, while it is often necessary that authenticity of a part be established, authentication equipment may not always be readily available. Whatever the case, these present techniques tend to add substantial costs to already expensive replacements parts.